Colin Owers has generated a new look at the Sopwith 2F.1 Ship’s Camel. Jack Bruce’s Datafile number 6 was issued in 1987 and has been long out of print, so it is about time that Albatros revisited Sopwith’s shipboard Camel. The cover features a Paul Monteagle painting of Sopwith 2F.1 N6602 flying over HMS Furious during take-off and landing trials in April 1918. Ronny Bar contributes seven large color side profiles, including N6818, an eye-catching red and white sun-burst paint job as flown by Major W.G. Moore. I counted 64 black and white photos and three tables.

Mick Davis grabs the pullout centerfold with 1/48 general arrangement line drawings of the Sopwith 2F.1 Camel. For those of you that still dabble in that odd 1/72 scale, Mick Davis also provides you the same drawings on a single page. The bonus is three pages of 1/32 detail and structural general arrangement drawings.

Sections include:

• Color Plates - Ronny Bar
• Introduction - Ray Rimell
• History
• Colour and Markings
• Key to Colour Plates
• Bibliography
• Appendices
• Acknowledgements
• Footnotes

Colin Owers kicks off the Ship’s Camel history with details of the operation that saw seven 2F.1s launched from HMS Furious. The attack on the Zeppelin sheds at Tondern resulted in the total loss of L54 and L60 and forced the German’s to withdraw their Zeppelins to safer locations. The first aircraft carrier raid was a success. Colin Owers then flashes back to how the Ship’s Camel came to this point in history. Owers continues with the history of the 2F.1 after the Armistice. Unlike the F.1 Camel, the 2F.1 saw continued combat in addition to further developments improving deck landing on carriers. Service with Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, and Canada is also covered. One of the more interesting developments covered was the suspension of the 2F.1 under the British rigid airship R.23.

This is a superb reference and is absolutely essential to building your kits of the Sopwith 2F.1 Ship’s Camel. Highly recommended!

My thanks to Albatros Productions Ltd. and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.